The proposed research project aims at investigating the interrelations between the concepts of time and place brands. Place branding is a widely implemented approach to place development, initially based on the ideas of product marketing and branding. It implies considering places (countries, regions, cities, towns, etc.) as specific brands, i.e. as networks of associations in people’s minds. A range of theories rationalizes the idea of place brands and place branding as a multidisciplinary approach. The concept of time is widely studies in other fields of knowledge – philosophy, management, geography, urban studies, etc. However, according to the literature review, there is a research gap in the place branding theory regarding time-related issues of place brands.

The goal of the research is to validate the hypothesis about the influence of time on place brands. The main research questions are the following: How does time influence place brand (each of the time aspects – past, present and future)? Does a brand life cycle exist? How do place stakeholders perceive time in the place brand? To answer the research questions, mixed methods based on case studies will be applied. The research design will be implemented at the example of the town Uriupinsk in the Volgograd region of Russia. The results of the research might contribute to the place branding theory and give practical insights into place branding practices.

Context

I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss. I see the lives for which I lay down my life, peaceful, useful, prosperous and happy. I see that I hold a sanctuary in their hearts, and in the hearts of their descendants, generations hence. It is a far,  far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.

Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Introduction

Place, where people live or travel, can be considered as a general category providing all the range of resources to satisfy consumers’ needs. Places, namely countries, cities, towns, villages and municipalities of different kind, where people exist become important constructs of their lives (Baker, 2012). Places can be categorised by different criteria: by a scale, recourses, type of economic activity, specialisation, geographical location, investment rating, touristic attractiveness, quality of life, etc. (Florida, 2005; Bechtel, 2016). Nowadays people choose places as they choose goods and services. From this point of view, the marketing approach has been applied to places, considering them as a specific type of products with their own markets and consumers (Kotler et al, 1993; Kotler and Gertner, 2002; M